This world is made up not only of many people but also of many people groups. There are many thousands of human groups. Some are based on language and others on religion. Some derive from social class and others from ethnic origin. To belong to some groups, you must have gone to a certain university (e.g., USC or UCLA). Groups all over the world are drawn and held together by attributes like age or musical preference or sports interests... Those affinities holding groups together are often quite natural and not always altogether bad.
One thing that every human group shares is that it develops a culture enabling it to define its distinctives and pass on its identity to others. Sadly, this fact has often led to the social and political divisions that trouble our world today. When we define our groups according to certain characteristics, we necessarily exclude those who do not possess them. And, sometimes our excluding leads to prejudice against those who are not a part of our group. We have all witnessed this countless times. I immediately think of the cultural divides I've witnessed in my lifetime: of black and white in South Africa, Catholic and Muslim in Northern India, and Tamil vs. Singhalese in Sri Lanka. In my own hometown, I grew up in the midst of severe racial segregation. Those who were of a more vibrant skin hue than my own were not allowed to attend my high school, live in my neighborhood, or swim in our public swimming pool.
Those of us who know our Bibles well are not surprised at all this. This is the lesson of Babel. Genesis 11 describes how God himself divided humankind into nationalities in response to creatures uniting against their Creator. In his wisdom, God determined that we are much less dangerous to one another that way. But, God has never intended to leave those made in his image (i.e., human beings) divided from him, from one another, and living lives of prejudice and suspicion. God has said that, someday, his people will be one people made up of individuals from every language, people, and national group (Rev. 7:9).
In one of the most remarkable texts in the Bible, Acts 10, we see the beginnings of God's reconciling previously divided people groups to himself. The beginnings of God's reconciling work were very dramatic. One of the most extreme members of one group learned to see that "God does not show favoritism but accepts from every people group those who fear him and do what is right" (Acts 10:34–35). This is what every local church should be doing too.
All week, I've been wondering whether this message from God might help us in the midst of the divisions we've been witnessing in our own nation. May the Lord give us wisdom as we consider this.
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor